Water air separator

ABSTRACT

A unitized take-apart water separator including a cylindrical housing formed of two cup-shaped units placed face to face, one of said units having an entrance tube through the bottom wall thereof communicating to an interior baffle which directs the intake fluid to the interior periphery of the assembled housing. The other cup-shaped unit has an outlet tube communicating through its bottom of the interior of a filter capsule, the filter capsule being circular and having an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of the housing, the two cup-shaped units held together by a common axial stud and disassemblable one from the other.

United States Patent [191 Jackson et al.

[451 Nov. an, 1973 1 WATER AIR snmnmon [73] Assignee: Gits Bros. Mtg.(30., Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Aug. 23, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 173,984

[52] US. Cl 55/418, 55/485, 55/487,

55/503, 55/510, 55/524 [51] Int. Cl Wild 51/00 [58] Field of Search55/510, 524, 418,

55/498, 500, 503, 502, 527, 485, 487, DIG. 25, DIG. 31, 324

9/1964 Great Britain 55/502 Primary Examiner-Frank W. Lutter AssistantExaminer-William Cuchlinski, Jr. Attorney-Carlton Hill et al.

[5 7 1 ABSTRACT A unitized take-apart water separator including acylindrical housing formed of two cup-shaped units placed face to face,one of said units having an entrance tube through the bottom wallthereof communicating to an interior baffle which directs the intakefluid to the interior periphery of the assembled housing. The othercup-shaped unit has an outlet tube communicating through its bottom ofthe interior of a filter capsule, the filter capsule being circular andhaving an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of the housing,the two cup-shaped units held together by a common axial stud anddisassemblable one from the other.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures WATER AIR SEPARATOR BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to awater-air separator and more particularly to a unitized take-apartseparator.

2. Prior Art Water-air separators utilizing filters have been known tothe art. Further, axial flow separators have also been known whichcombine a housing having a filter interior thereof with inlet and outlettubes accepting an axial flow. Such prior art filters normally pass thefluid stream through the filter retaining the water on one side of thefilter and allowing air to' pass therethrough.

Such prior art filters, while generally workable from a separationstandpoint have usually been awkward or cumbersome to manufacture andhave normally required that the housing be sealed.

On the other hand, the prior art separators which were not permanentlysealed and which allowed access to the interior housing for removing thefilter and replacement and/or other reasonssuch as clearance ofblockages have generally been complex and were not easy to disassemblewhich added to their cost of manufacture, assembly, and use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention improves upon prior art. designsby providing a unitized water-air separator with take-apart features.The separator consists basically of two cupshaped housing members whichare bolted together in face-to-face relation. Each of the housingmembers has a tube projecting from the bottom wall communicating withthe interior. One of the housing members communicates the tube to aninterior baffle arrangement which redirects the air-water mixture to theinteriorperiphery. The other cup-shaped member communicates the interiorthrough an outlet adapter having passage openings therethroughcommunicating to the outlet tube. A cylindrical filter unit is entrappedbetween the baffle and the inner end wall of the cup-shaped memberhaving the outlet adapter. The filter unit has an outer diameter lessthan the inner diameter of the assembled housing and the housing hasdrainage openings therethrough. Therefore air-water is ported to theinterior through the inlet tube thence into the baffle where it isdirected to the inner periphery thence through the filter to the centerof the unit. The interior of the filter is communicated to the outlettube through the outlet adapter. The filter is designed to separate thewater from the air, maintaining the water in the outer peripheral areaof the interior of the housing where it drains away through the drainholes. The unit is held assembled together by a threaded-ended studprojecting between the back wall of the baffle and a center opening inthe outlet adapter. The unit can be disassembled merely by rotating onecup-shaped housing member with respect to the other to unthread one ofthe members off the stud. To aid in this, the stud can be permanentlyaffixed to one of the housing attached members.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide an improvedseparator.

It is another object of this invention to provide a fluid separator witha filter unit entrapped in a take-apart housing, the filter uniteffective to separate the fluids to different areas of the housing.

It is still another and more specific object of this invention toprovide a take-apart fluid separator of the axial flow type whereinseparation is accomplished through a cylindrical filter positionedinteriorly of a cylindrical two-piece housing, the housing having aninlet directing fluid via a baffle to an outer peripheral area of theinterior of the housing and an outlet communicating to the center of thehousing with the filter dividing the space between the outer peripheralarea and the center of the housing, the filter effective to separatefluids passing therethrough whereby one desired fluid remains on theouter peripheral side of the filter while the other fluid is passedthrough to the center.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the presentinvention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon makingreference to the detailed description and the accompanying'sheets ofdrawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating theprinciples of the present invention is shown by way of illustrativeexample.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the inlet endof the separator of this invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the fluid separator of thisinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 is a cross-sectionalview of the fluid separator 10 of this invention. The separator consistsof an inlet housing 11, an outlet housing 12, inlet and outlet tubes 13and 14, a baffle 15, a filter 16, an outlet adapter 17 and a stud 18.

Each of the housing members 11 and 12 is substantially cup-shaped havinga peripheral diameter wall 11a and 12a and a bottom wall 11b and 12b.Adjacent their open ends 19 the housing members 11, 12 are stepped so asto provide an overlap when assembled together open end to open end. Inthe embodiment illustrated, the inlet housing member 11 is stepped withan inner diameter surface relief ledge 20 while the outlet housingmember 12 is stepped with an outer diameter relief ledge 21 so that whenthe housing members are assembled together in open end to open endfacing contact, portions of the outlet housing member 12 will projectinto the ledged area of the inlet housing member as illustrated at 19.This overlapping coupling assures alignment of the two housing unitswhile aiding in the provision of a seal at the joint.

The inlet and outlet tubes 13 and 14 are centrally located axially ofthe housing. Each housing member Ill, 12 has a central axial hole 22, 23through the bottom wall 11b, 12b. The baffle 15 is attached to thebottom wall 1 lb of the inlet housing member 1 1a interior of thecup-shaped housing member. The baffle consists of a radial wall 25 atone axial end thereof and a circumferential peripheral wall 26projecting axially from the radial wall 25 producing a cup-shapedbaffle. The baffle is open at the end 27 opposite the radial wall 25 andhas a central chamber 28. A plurality of openings 29 are providedthrough the peripheral wall 26 communicating the exterior of the baffleto the central opening 28. The axial end 30 of the baffle opposite theradial wall 25 has an axial projecting circumferential tongue 31 spacedintermediate its inner and outer diameters. The tongue 31 fits throughthe opening 22 with the ledge 33 provided by the material from thetongue 31 to the outer diameter overlying the inside surface of thebottom wall 11b. The tongue 31 has an axial thickness approximatelyequal to the thickness of the housing portion 11a so that it terminatesflush with the outer surface of the bottom wall 11b. The inlet tube 13has an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of the tongue 31 andis received therein bottoming against the ledge 35 created by theremainder of the material from the inner diameter of the tongue 31 tothe inner diameter of the peripheral wall 26 of the baffle. Thus theaxial end 30 of the baffle is nestled in the opening 22 of the inletcover with the tongue projecting through the opening flush to theexterior. In turn the tube 13 is nestled in the open end of the baffleradially inwardly of the opening 22.

The outlet adapter is attached to the bottom wall 12b of the outlethousing member 12 in substantially the same manner. The outlet adapter17 is a disc having an axially projecting tongue 37 and one radial facethereof, the tongue being circumferential and being spaced from the axissubstantially the same as the tongue 31 of the baffle. The tongue 37 isreceived in the opening 23 in the same manner as the tongue 31 of thebaffle and the tube 14 is received inwardly of the tongue 37 in the samemanner as the tube 13 is received inwardly of the tongue 31. Thedisc-shaped outlet adapter 17 has a plurality of openings 38 axiallytherethrough, the openings spaced from the axis of the outlet adapterand terminating radially inwardly of the inner diameter of the tubecommunicating the interior of the housing to the interior of the tube.

Both the baffle and the outlet adapter have openings 39 therethroughaxially located. The openings receive the threaded ends of a stud 18.The openings 39 may be threaded with complementary threads to the stud.

Both the outlet adapter 17, the baffle 15, and the tubes 13 and 14 arewelded together and to the respective back walls 11b, 12b. Thereforewhen the unit is assembled together with the stud 18 threaded into theopenings 39, the housing members 11, 12 may be rotated with respect toone another to tighten the unit together in assembled relation.Alternatively, the stud may have means for independent rotation such asa screw driver slot in an axial end to aid in the assembly.

Of course it is to be understood that the stud could be permanentlyaffixed in either the baffle or the outlet adapter in non-rotatablerelation therewith so that the device is assembled by threading theother of either the baffle or outlet adapter onto the other end of thestud.

The outer diameter of the tubes may have bulges 40 circumferentiallytherearound positioned to facilitate attachment of hoses or tubing tothe inlet and outlet tubes.

A filter element 16 is positioned interiorly of the housing and mayinclude a plurality of cylindrical filter members. The members arenestled concentrically and may be slightly radially spaced from oneanother in the design illustrated. In the preferred embodiment thefilter media may consist of two different densities of glass fibers witha phenolic resin binder. Either galvanized hardware cloth or perforatedsteel with a corrosion resistant finish can be used for structuralsupport. A vinyl coated fiberglas screen may be further used around theoutside of the filter element. The filter element may consist of aplurality of tubes as illustrated or may be a monolithic unit structuredof various layers or the like. Such filter elements for filtering fluidstreams, and especially for filtering streams of combined water vaporand air are known to the art. Normally such filters pass the air whilescreening out the water vapor.

The filter unit 16 is positioned interiorly of the housing concentricwith the center thereof and has an inner diameter 51 radially spacedfrom the axial center of the unit so as to provide an open chamber 52surrounding the stud 18. The chamber is open to the outlet tube throughthe openings 38 in the outlet adapter 17. The filter unit has an outerdiameter 53 less than the inner diameter 54 of the cup-shaped housingmembers 11 and 12 whereby when filter unit 16 is positioned in thehousing, it forms a cylinder dividing the interior of the housing intothe space 52 and a space 56 between the outer diameter, the filter andthe inner diameter of the housing.

The filter unit 16 is retained in place in the housing by enclampmentbetween two ring-shaped retaining members 55 and 56. The retainingmembers each have radial walls 57 projecting radially outwardly from acentral opening 58 and terminating in an axially expanding peripheralwall 59 which has an inner diameter 60 equal to the outer diameter ofthe filter element 16. The inner diameter 58 of each of the rings isreceived in turn around the outer diameter of either the back wall 25 ofthe baffle 15 or the outer diameter of the outlet adapter 17. The rings55 and 56 may be permanently affixed to the filter element 16 to form afilter capsule consisting of the wall, filter media, and the rings. Inwhich case, a backing element such as the washer 61 is permanentlyaffixed to the baffle 15 as illustrated. The filter capsule is theninsertible into the housing and is enclamped between the washer 61 andthe back wall 12b.

Of course, in other embodiments, the rings 55 and 56 may themselves bepermanently affixed to the baffle and outlet adapter respectively, andthe filter unit can consist solely of a tubular member open at bothends.

In the embodiment illustrated, the washer and the back wall providedimensional stability to the rings 55 and 56 and the filter unit isreceived interiorly of the axially extending peripheral walls 59. Thering 55 is spaced from the back wall 11b of the housing member 11 by adistance at least equal to the openings 29 in the baffle. In this way aspace 63 is provided between the washer 61 and the back wall 11b, thespace 63 being open to the interior of the baffle through the openings29. The rings 55 and 56 are non-porous and effectively block off theinterior of the housing to the spaces 63 at one end of the inlet housingand the peripheral space 56 outwardly of the filter unit. The space 52then is accessible only through the filter from the space 56 and thespace 63. Thus the flow of combined fluids from the inlet tube isdiverged through the baffle to the space 63 thence to the space 56thence through the filter unit 16 to the space 52 thence out through theopenings 39 in the outlet adapter to the outlet tube 14.

The filter will effectively strain the desired fluid, in the preferredembodiment, water vapor from the air stream retaining the water withinthe outer periphery of the housing in the space 56 and the space 63.Drainage openings 66 are provided through the cup-shaped housing members11 and 12 to the exterior of the unit to allow drainage of the waterfrom the space 56-63.

When it is desired to replace the filter unit all that has to be done isto unthread the cup-shaped housing members from one another byunthreading them on the stud 18 thereby opening the interior andallowing the filter unit to drop out of the now housing. Replacing a newfilter unit in the housing and rethreading the housing recloses theunit. Therefore, it can be seen that this invention provides an easytake-apart fluid separator which allows for ease of replacement of thefilter.

In order to prolong the life of the housing, which, due to itstake-apart feature, does not have to be discarded with the filter, thehousing members may be cadmium plated steel or otherwise constructed ofnondegradable material. The various connecting points can all be weldedor soldered to firmly attach the individual units to their backingportions.

it can therefore be seen from the above that our invention provides aunique take-apart fluid separator which is compact, economical tomanufacture, sturdy, easily assembled, and simple to maintain and whichallows convenience of filter replacement.

Although various minor modifications might be suggested by those versedin the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within thescope of the patent warranted hereon all such embodiments as reasonablyand properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

I claim:

1. A water-air separator comprising a hollow cylindrical housing withend walls having an inlet tube in one end wall communicating to theinterior of the housing, an outlet tube in the other end wallcommunicating to the interior of the housing, a baffle means in theinterior affixed to the one end wall adjacent the inlet tube, saidbaffle means changing the axial flow of fluid from the inlet tube to aradial flow interior of the housing adjacent the one end wall, a filterunit in said housing, said filter unit effective to separate water outof a water saturated air stream, said filter having a hollow interior,said filter unit having an exterior dimension less than the interiordimension of the housing, said filter unit positioned substantiallybetween the baffle means and the interior of the said other end wall,the interior of the filter unit open to the outlet tube through an endwall of the filter unit, a space surrounding the filter unit interior ofthe housing, said space open to the baffle means receiving the radialflow therefrom, said housing disassemblable to give axcess to the filterunit whereby said filter unit is easily changed, the baffle means havinga radially projecting wall associated therewith and the filter unitentrapped between the said radially projecting wall and the said otherend wall, the filter unit having walls at both ends thereof, each ofsaid walls having openings centrally located therethrough, the housinghaving an outlet adapter associated with said other end wall, the outletadapter having openings therethrough communicating with the outlet tube,the outlet adapter having a circular peripheral wall projecting into theinterior of the housing from the said other end wall, the filter unitassembled in the said housing with the outlet adapter projecting into anopening in one of the end walls of the filter unit and the baffle meanshaving a portion projecting into an opening in the other end wall of thefilter unit to suspend the filter unit in the housing entrapped betweenthe radially projecting wall associated with the baffle means and theother end wall of the housing.

2. The water-air separator of claim 1 wherein a threaded-ended studextends between the baffle means and outlet adapters and the housing iscomposed of two cup-shaped members assembled in open-face-to-openfacerelation and maintained in said relation by attachment of the ends ofthe stud to the baffle means and the outlet adapter respectively, thesaid baffle means permanently affixed to one of the said cup-shapedhousing units and the outlet adapter permanently affixed to the other ofthe said cup-shaped housing members, the stud being detachable from atleast one of the baffle means and outlet adapter.

3. A water-air separator comprising: a housing, the housing includingtwo cup-shaped members having bottom and peripheral walls, the membersassembled together in open-face-to-open-face position, the membersdefining an interior space, each of the members having openings throughtheir bottom walls, one of the members having an inlet conduit connectedadjacent the opening through the bottom wall of the one member, theconduit open to the interior space, an inlet baffle means interior ofthe members connected to the one member adjacent the opening through theone member, the baffle means changing an axial flow from the inletconduit to a substantially radial flow within the interior space, theother of said members having an outlet conduit attached thereto adjacentthe opening through the bottom wall of the other of said members, theoutlet open to the interior space, an outlet adapter attached to theother of said members in juxtaposition to the opening and bottom wall ofthe other end of said members the outlet adapter and outlet conduitcommunicating an area exterior of the housing to the interior of thehousing, a tubular air-water separator filter unit having a length lessthan the length of the interior space and a diameter less than thediameter of the interior 3 ace received in the space between at leastportions of the baffle means and the bottom wall of the other of saidmembers, the unit dividing the interior space into a radially inner anda radially outer area defined by a tube wall of the unit and closed fromone another, the radial flow from the baffle means directed to the outerarea, the inner area open to the outlet, a closure device extendingbetween and attached to the baffle means and the outlet adapter interiorof the members and being releasable from at least one of said bafflemeans and outlet adapter, the closing device effective to maintain saidmembers in open-face-to-open-face positon when attached to both thebaffle means and outlet adapter. l l

1. A water-air separator comprising a hollow cylindrical housing withend walls having an inlet tube in one end wall communicating to theinterior of the housing, an outlet tube in the other end wallcommunicating to the interior of the housing, a baffle means in theinterior affixed to the one end wall adjacent the inlet tube, saidbaffle means changing the axial flow of fluid from the inlet tube to aradial flow interior of the housing adjacent the one end wall, a filterunit in said housing, said filter unit effective to separate water outof a water saturated air stream, said filter having a hollow interior,said filter unit having an exterior dimension less than the interiordimension of the housing, said filter unit positioned substantiallybetween the baffle means and the interior of the said other end wall,the interior of the filter unit open to the outlet tube through an endwall of the filter unit, a space surrounding the filter unit interior ofthe housing, said space open to the baffle means receiving the radialflow therefrom, said housing disassemblable to give axcess to the filterunit whereby said filter unit is easily changed, the baffle means havinga radially projecting wall associated therewith and the filter unitentrapped between the said radially projecting wall and the said otherend wall, the filter unit having walls at both ends thereof, each ofsaid walls having openings centrally located therethrough, the housinghaving an outlet adapter associated with said other end wall, the outletadapter having openings therethrough communicating with the outlet tube,the outlet adapter having a circular peripheral wall projecting into theinterior of the housing from the said other end wall, the filter unitassembled in the said housing with the outlet adapter projecting into anopening in one of the end walls of the filter unit and the baffle meanshaving a portion projecting into an opening in the other end wall of thefilter unit to suspend the filter unit in the housing entrapped betweenthe radially projecting wall associated with the baffle means and theother end wall of the housing.
 2. The water-air separator of claim 1wherein a threaded-ended stud extends between the baffle means andoutlet adapters and the housing is composed of two cup-shaped membersassembled in open-face-to-open-face relation and maintained in saidrelation by attachment of the ends of the stud to the baffle means andthe outlet adapter respectively, the said baffle means permanentlyaffixed to one of the said cup-shaped housing units and the outletadapter permanently affixed to the other of the said cup-shaped housingmembers, the stud being detachable from at least one of the baffle meansand outlet adapter.
 3. A water-air separator comprising: a housing, thehousing including two cup-shaped members having bottom and peripheralwalls, the members assembled together in open-face-to-open-faceposition, the members defining an interior space, each of the membershaving openings through their bottom walls, one of the members having aninlet conduit connected adjacent the opening through the bottom wall ofthe one member, the conduit open to the interior space, an inlet bafflemeans interior of the members connected to the one member adjacent theopening through the one member, the baffle means changing an axial flowfrom the inlet conduit to a substantially radial flow within theinterior space, the other of said members having an outlet conduitattached thereto adjacent the opening through the bottom wall of theother of said members, the outlet open to the interior space, an outletadapter attached to the other of said members in juxtapOsition to theopening and bottom wall of the other end of said members the outletadapter and outlet conduit communicating an area exterior of the housingto the interior of the housing, a tubular air-water separator filterunit having a length less than the length of the interior space and adiameter less than the diameter of the interior s ace received in thespace between at least portions of the baffle means and the bottom wallof the other of said members, the unit dividing the interior space intoa radially inner and a radially outer area defined by a tube wall of theunit and closed from one another, the radial flow from the baffle meansdirected to the outer area, the inner area open to the outlet, a closuredevice extending between and attached to the baffle means and the outletadapter interior of the members and being releasable from at least oneof said baffle means and outlet adapter, the closing device effective tomaintain said members in open-face-to-open-face positon when attached toboth the baffle means and outlet adapter.